Union’s now the bully

Cambridge Times

Waterloo Region public secondary school coaches had a chance to get their teams back to the hardwood, the courts, ice and snow next week, but that now seems unlikely to happen.

Three Cambridge schools – Glenview, Southwood and Jacob Hespeler – will not have teams for a proposed, rejigged, winter sports schedule. It’s likely that Preston won’t either, and rumblings are that Galt may be out, too.

While there’s no saying what will happen at the other public high schools in the region, it seems that the teachers are sticking together when it comes to opting out of extra-curricular activities. There seemed to be some optimism on Monday when WCSSAA didn’t extend its sports suspension past Dec. 31, but an e-mail from the teacher’s union broke that spirit.

In the e-mail, obtained by the Times, the union reminded teachers that it was time to show solidarity and not go back to “business as usual” or they would lose their bargaining power.

Jacob Hespeler athletic director Greg White said that the coaches want to coach, but the strong “directive” from the union was more than likely going to deter them from doing so.

While the teacher’s union has been blowing smoke since Bill 115 was introduced and calling Premier Dalton McGuinty a bully for pushing it through, it’s the union that’s looking like the bully now and students, again, are being left in the lurch as pawns in a political struggle.